A review of ‘The Shanghai Circle’ by a member of the Online Book Club on the 3rd January 2024

4 out of 5 stars

This historical novel, the first in a series of three books, takes place in 1936-1937, mostly in Shanghai and also in Hong Kong.

The events described in the book in these two cities actually took place during the period, although the dates and the order were modified.

We mostly follow several young persons who initially are living in Shanghai. Four of them are working for a British company, one is the son of the leader of a triad, and the last one is a Russian woman.

Of these six main characters, two ends dead and the four others are in Hong Kong at the end of the book. As there is a second book in this series, The Hong Kong Circle, I guess this second novel continues to follow the same characters.

There are no long descriptions in the book: what is happening to the characters is interspersed with what is happening in their world. This way, we get an idea of what Shanghai and Hong Kong were in this era.

Most people reading this novel will learn new things about China, and not only the events that happened in 1936-1937. For example, I did not know that there is a variety of Chinese called the [i}Shanghainese language[/i], itself part of Wu Chinese.

The characters are interesting, and not caricatural. Their backstories show why they behave like they do.
They interact with each others in a plausible manner.
Of the two who died, one is mostly his own fault, the other is a victim of a catastrophic event.

I really like this novel, where you see relations between Western and Eastern people, relationships between men and women (some platonic, some sexual), moral dilemmas (the fathers of two of the main characters died because they wanted to do the right thing).

I will probably buy the other books of the series.